Sorry for the delay everybody, I had a dumb civics project to do grumble grumble

But anyhoot, chap three is done. It takes place about a week before Katara saved Iroh and is Aang, Toph, and Sokka's story.

Oh yea I forget this for the last chapter: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, cause if I did (insert comical phrase here)

One week ago…

Aang sat on a bundle of hay as he stared at the stars in the night sky. Only a week had gone by since the incident in Ba Sing Se, but he was still recovering from the wounds Azula gave him. He really wished he could have gone with Katara to help her rescue Iroh, but Katara insisted that he was still too hurt to be traveling and was to stay at the Eastern Air temple until they returned. Aang's group, excluding him and Toph, had left earlier that morning; Katara, the Earth King, and Bosco were going to save Iroh after they dropped Sokka off with his father. Sokka was going to help his father plan the next step they would take against the Fire Nation. Aang knew Katara was putting herself in danger to rescue Iroh, and it ate away at him every time he thought of her.

Katara

"I'm sorry Katara…"

Aang sighed. The fact was that Aang had responsibilities as the avatar and therefore he couldn't have earthly attachments.

But Aang loved her…

Aang shook his head. No! He had let her go. He couldn't let himself feel anything towards her ever again. Except friendship of course, and the more Aang thought about it, the more he actually liked the idea of just being Katara's friend. Not that he would stop loving her anytime soon, but not having to try to impress her all the time, not having the feeling of jealousy when other guys looked at her in any way, shape, or form, made the whole world a bit simpler. It made him smile that he didn't have to be another person around Katara anymore. Being "just friends" meant that you could make all the bodily noises you wanted and you didn't have to worry about offending your crush. He knew he would always love Katara, but this love didn't make him feel so pressured.

Aang's smile slowly faded when he thought of the real reason he couldn't sleep that night. Not only did being wounded mean he couldn't travel on Appa until he was healed, but it also meant no bending whatsoever. Katara stressed that a lot.

So, of course, right after his friends left on Appa, Aang did a little airbending and it made him happy. But as he looked at the water before he tried to bend it, he felt a sort of…missing piece of himself. He hadn't tried any earth or waterbending that whole day in fear of what he suspected was true. When ever he waterbended, he felt a certain peace about him, like he was one with the rhythm of the push and pull of the ocean, and whenever he earthbended, he felt like he could lift the world off its axis, but now…

Aang gazed into his hand in fear.

Something bad had happened to him the night Azula struck him, he just wasn't sure if he could face reality if it would ever hit him.

Toph rolled over in a fit of restlessness.

Stupid Aang, not falling asleep. Toph was tired, but she would be damned before she falls asleep without hearing the rhythm of Aang's sleeping, beating heart.

There weren't many things in the world Toph was afraid of. Swimming and flying were just about the only two things that were on her list of fears before Ba Sing Se

The thing that had scared her most of all wasn't Azula, her brother, or the hundreds of Dai Li threatening to kill her. Toph had faced worse than that. The person that scared her the most was Aang. No, she was not afraid of Aang, she was afraid of the thing Katara had been carrying in her arms when she waterbended her self out of the hole in the ground. The thing Katara handed to Toph so she could get on, the lack of noise and life that she had been holding in her arms. The thing that felt so much like Aang when she handed it back to Katara.

It had scared her beyond anything she's ever gone through in the short twelve years Toph's been on earth that she was not able to find the familiar heartbeat of a certain airbender.

Toph shook her head. Aang was okay, he was in the other room next to hers. He wasn't dead, he wasn't in any mortal danger, and most of all, she could hear his heartbeat, steady and strong as usual. Everything was going okay at the moment.

Well, more or less okay, anyway…

Appa flew to the cliffs that hid his father and his men from Fire Nation eyes. The men of the small tribe were repairing their tents and boats from the last battle they had with a small fleet of Fire Nation ships. Thankfully the Water Tribe men managed to overcome the ships with the small amount of waterbenders they had within their tribe. Sokka jumped off Appa onto the pathway that lead to his father and waved goodbye to his sister.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright Katara? Cause you know you don't have to do this! I mean Aang doesn't necessarily need to master firebending! We could invent a new type of bending!" Sokka said pleadingly, "How about foodbending huh? I'm sure Aang could wip up some good stewed sea prunes!"

Katara stared blankly at him from her spot on Appa's head. "Can Aang defeat the Fire Lord with stewed sea prunes Sokka?"

Sokka thought for a second. "…Well, Aang could give him indigestion or explosive diarrhea!" He said crossing his arms, daring his sister to deny him the greatness of stewed sea prunes in mortal combat. "And how is Aang going to defeat the Fire Lord with firebending huh?! I mean, what if you get captured? Would it be worth it just so Aang can learn to play with fire?" Sokka looked at his sister with concern in his eyes.

Katara sighed and jumped off Appa. She walked to brother and hugged him. "Sokka, everything will be fine. This is part of Aang's duty as the avatar. We can't just deny him that."

Sokka's gaze softened and he returned his sister's embrace. Before Katara left to find the "Angry Jerk's" uncle, he yelled for the Earth King and his bear to watch over his sister. Sokka watched as his sister flew away and wiped his eyes with Momo's tail.

"Come on Momo, let's go," Momo chirped and wiped his tail on the back of Sokka's shirt without him noticing.

Sokka walked down the familiar path to his father's tent. He smiled at the older member's of his tribe and knew this time he was going to stay by his father's side…

"What do you mean I have to go?!" Sokka slammed his fists on the table before his father.

His father sighed and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Sokka I know you want to stay here, but I have an important mission for you. I need you to go and recruit as many soldiers as you can for the attack on the Fire Nation Capital," Hakoda dropped his hand and walked over to a map of their world posted to a wall. "We are only one small fleet here, and with Ba Sing Se's forces down, the chances of winning without a plan are very small."

"…" Sokka stared at the floor in silence.

Hakoda stood opposite of his son, not speaking another word.

Sokka smiled and looked at his dad. "Where do I start?"

Hakoda smiled and patted Sokka on the back. "Well, do you know of any soldiers?"

Sokka thought for a second before a certain Kyoshi warrior's face flashed in his mind. "Suki!" He yelled out.

Hakoda gave him a questionable stare. "Who's Suki?"

Sokka blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "She's a female warrior from an island called Kyoshi. She and her team are some great fighters. I know they'll be more than happy to join this fight!"

Hakoda smiled at his son. "Okay then, you will start with the Kyoshi warriors. Sokka, this is an important and possibly dangerous task, so three of my greatest fighters will go with you."

"Okay dad, I'll make you proud," Sokka said to his father before he left the tent.

Hakoda smiled sadly. "I'm already proud of you son…" He said to the silence of the tent.

Yayness!! I know the whole "I'm already proud of you" moment happened, but I don't care.

Cookies go out to those who can guess what's Aang so afraid of.